House-Senate meeting adjourns for lack of quorum
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A joint House-Senate meeting was adjourned yesterday due to the lack of a quorum with only 319 out of 649 MPs and senators turning up in the chamber.
Parliament President Somsak Kiatsuranont rescheduled the next joint meeting on amending the Constitution from Tuesday to tomorrow.
Despite being present in the chamber, the Democrats did not answer the roll call, and some lawmakers walked out of the chamber.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra attended yesterday’s meeting, which was scheduled to start at 10am.
Chief whip Aumnuay Khlangpha said 26 Pheu Thai MPs and 30 coalition MPs were absent yesterday.
Government whip Paijit Sreewarakan said MP Yaowapa Wongsawat, Yingluck’s sister, would call a meeting tomorrow morning to give a serious warning to Pheu Thai MPs who were absent yesterday. The charter amendment debate should be completed within the coming week, because there were many other important laws on the agenda.
After the meeting started, Somsak told members there would be a live broadcast of the meeting for some period. Then Democrat MP for Kanchanaburi Chatraphan Detkitsunthorn complained that besides the speakers trying to stop the opposition from talking, the ruling Pheu Thai MPs also made them wait for an hour. He then asked for a quorum check.
Roll call
Somsak said the opposition should not have used that tactic to attack government MPs. However, Pheu Thai MP Phayap Punket supported the request and asked for a roll call. Somsak, instead, ordered a 10-minute break.
The roll call was made and finished at around 1.30pm. Somsak did not announce the results but rescheduled the next meeting before closing the session.
Pheu Thai MP Somkid Chueakong, from Ubon Ratchathani, blamed the government whip for not informing them about the meeting earlier, resulting in many MPs failing to attend.
Some MPs and senators went to visit their constituencies yesterday or had appointments. Some only signed their names and went out, but failed to return in time for the roll call. Democrats said government MPs should not have rushed the charter amendment and scheduled the meeting on a weekend.
Meanwhile, Assumption University’s Abac Poll released survey results yesterday that showed about 85 per cent of respondents regarded the incident of an MP throwing a chair as behaviour that negatively affected the image of Parliament. Almost three-fourth of respondents supported an inquiry into the MP’s actions.
On Thursday night, Democrat MP Shane Thaugsuban threw a chair in a fit of anger after many Democrat MPs were blocked from speaking during a meeting. He later apologised.
More than 60 per cent of the 1,197 respondents in Bangkok and adjacent provinces surveyed on Thursday and Friday said there should also be investigation into the House Speaker’s actions.
